Watering bottle assembly for animals

ABSTRACT

A watering bottle assembly for caged laboratory animals includes a completely hollow cylindrical tube of transparent plastic material mounted at one end in the stopper of a water bottle. In the free end of the tube a one-piece metal tip is frictionally mounted, the tip having an enlarged semi-spherical head portion projecting from the plastic tube and having a water outlet aperture accessible to the caged animals for drinking. The outer diameter of the tube is substantially equal to the outer diameter of at least a portion of the enlarged head portion of the metal tip.

United States Patent [1 Gabriel WATERING BOTTLE ASSEMBLY FOR ANIMALS[75] Inventor: George S. Gabriel, Mahwah, NJ. [73] Assignee: LabProducts, Inc., Garfield, NJ.

[22] Filed: Sept. 28, 1971 [21] Appl. No.: 184,442

[52] US. Cl. ll9/72.5, 119/72 [51] Int. Cl A0lk 07/00 [58] Field ofSearch 119/18, 72, 72.5, 1 19/51.5, 75

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,251,342 5/1966 Kay 119/725X 3,228,377 l/1966 Grassano l19/72.5

3,367,308 2/1968 Quattrone et a1.. 119/18 X 3,334,614 8/1967 Gass et a1.119/18 3,492,970 2/1970 Keen et a1 119/18 Aug. 14, 1973 3,529,575 9/1970Schalk 119/715 3,537,428 11/1970 Montgomery 3,645,234 2/ 1972 Schroer 119/18 Primary Examiner-Russell R. Kinsey Assistant Examiner-James l-l.Czerwonky AttorneyEdward F. Levy ABSTRACT 7 Claims, 4 Drawing FiguresWATERING BOTTLE ASSEMBLY FOR ANIMALS The present invention relates tonovel and improved watering tube for laboratory animals.

Small laboratory animals such as mice, rats, guinea pigs and the likeare normally kept in a cage or receptacle lined with animal beddingmaterial. In order to maintain the health and well-being of the animalsit is necessary to provide a supply of drinking water for the animals asneeded. The drinking water is normally supplied in a bottle which ismounted in inverted position on the roof of the cage and has a wateringtube or sipper tube extending into the interior of the cage to aposition in which it is accessible to the animals therewithin. Theaforementioned watering tubes were originally made from glass tubing sothat they had the advantage of being clear and transparent so thatcleanliness of the tube could be easily monitored. A dirty orcontaminated tube could therefore be removed and replaced. However, suchglass tubes had the serious disadvantage of being readily breakable. Theanimals would constantly chew upon the end of the tube while drinking,causing the glass to break and result in lacerations and bodily harm tothe animals.

As a result, watering tubes made of stainless steel were substituted forthose made of glass. Such stainless tubes would not break when chewed orgnawed upon by the animals, but presented the disadvantage of not beingable to be visually checked for cleanliness, so that contaminationtherein frequently resulted in diseases in the animals.

An object of the present invention is the provision of a novel andimproved watering tube for laboratory animals which provides both theadvantages of being nonbreakable and being transparent for visualmonitoring of the tube for cleanliness.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a watering tube ofthe character described which is made in two parts of separatematerials, the tip being made of an unbreakable metal, and the remainderbeing made of a clear transparent material.

A further object of the invention is the provision of a watering tube ofthe character described which is efficient in use and which may beeconomically manufactured.

In accordance with the invention herein, there is provided a wateringtube comprising an elongated tubular body of rigid transparent materialhaving an inner end adapted to be mounted in the mouth of a liquidcontainer. A metal tip member is mounted in the opposite, outer end ofthe tubular body and has an enlarged end portion, which is preferablysemi-spherical, projecting from said tubular body. The metal tip has aliquid outlet aperture in its enlarged end portion and a through borewhich communicates with the outlet aperture and with the interior ofsaid tubular body to supply liquid from said container to said aperture.

Additional objects and advantages of the invention will become apparentduring the course of the following specification when taken inconnection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. I is a perspective view of a cage for laboratory animals with awatering bottle mounted thereon, and having a watering tube made inaccordance with the present invention, portions of the cage being brokenaway to disclose the watering tube;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged section taken along line 22 of FIG. I and showingthe mouth of the bottle with the watering tube mounted therein;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged section taken along line 3--3 of FIG. 2; and

FIG. 4 is an enlarged section of the end of the watering tube, similarto FIG. 3 but showing the metal tip disassembled from the tube.

Referring in detail to the drawings, there is shown in FIG. I a cage orreceptacle [0 of conventional type used to house laboratory animals. Thecage 10 illustrated herein comprises a boxlike body 12 made oftransparent material such as glass or plastic, and having removablymounted thereon a metal lid or roof 14 provided with perforations 16.The cage 10 is made of sufficient size to house one or more laboratoryanimals such as mice, rats, guinea pigs or the like. In the illustratedform shown in FIG. 1, the cage 10 is made of small size to contain smalllaboratory animals such as the mouse M shown therein, as well as a layerof animal bedding material.

The watering bottle20 shown in FIG. 1 comprises a bottle body 22 made oftransparent material, and having a relatively large mouth 24. Within themouth 24 is inserted the usual rubber stopper 26 having a centralthrough bore 28 and a flat upper surface 30, as best seen in FIG. 2. Thebottle body 22 is preferably made of transparent plastic withsufficiently thin walls to permit a slight compressibility of the walls.

The structure heretofore described is conventional and well known, theinvention herein residing in the watering or sipper tube 32 which isinserted within the rubber stopper 26 to serve as part of the wateringbottle assembly. The sipper tube 32 generally comprises a tube body 34and a separate tip 36.

The tube body 34 comprises a length of clear, transparent cylindricaltubing preferably made of a rigid plastic such as polycarbonate which iscapable 'of withstanding the heat of autoclaving. The tube body 34 has auniform external diameter throughout its length, the diameter being suchthat one end portion of the tube body may be snugly received within thebore 28 of the rubber stopper 26, as shown in FIG. 2, effecting awatertight seal therewith. The opposite, free end of the tube body 34has a short terminal portion 38, the inner diameter of which is greaterthan the inner diameter of the remainder of the tube body 34, formingtherewith a shoulder 40.

The tip 36 is an integral unit formed of a suitable metal such asstainless steel with an enlarged semispherical head portion 42 and acylindrical rear portion 44. The rear portion 44 has an externaldiameter slightly larger than the internal diameter of the tube terminalportion 38 so that it may be press fit and frictionally retained in saidterminal portion in the manner shown in FIG. 3. The head portion 42 hasa maximum outer diameter substantially equal to the outer diameter ofthe tube body 34 so that in inserted position its external surfaceconstitutes a smooth continuation of the external surface of the tubeterminal portion 38 presenting no breaks or sharp surfaces which couldinjure the animals while drinking.

It will be observed that the length of the cylindrical rear portion 44of tip 36 is equal to the length of the terminal portion 38 of the tubebody 34 so that when the tip is fully inserted into the tube body, thetip rear portion 44 engages shoulder 40, as shown in FIG. 3, to

prevent further insertion, and the flat rear surface of head portion 42also engages the front end surface of the tube terminal portion 38.

As shown in FIG. 3, the cylindrical rear portion 44 of tip 36 isprovided with a longitudinal bore 46 which communicates with a taperedbore 48 in the head portion 42, The tapered bore 48 in turn communicateswith a small circular aperture 50 in the front central surface of thesaid head portion.

In use, the watering bottle 20 is filled with a supply of water 52 orother liquid and is mounted in inverted position on the cage 10. In thetype of cage illustrated herein, the bottle is maintained in invertedposition by the flat outer surface 30 of the rubber stopper 26 whichrests flush upon the upper surface of the cage lid 14, as shown in FIG.1, with the watering tube 32 extending through one of the perforations16 into the interior of the cage body 12 for a sufficient distance topermit the housed animals to reach the tip of the tube.

When the filled bottle 20 is mounted in inverted position, the containedwater 52 feeds by gravity through sipper tube 34 and the tip bores 46and 48 to the aperture 50. The diameter of aperture 50 is sufficientlysmall that water will not freely drip therethrough, but will readilyform a drop at the aperture 50 which may be removed by licking ortouching of an animal within the cage 10. The removed drop will then bereplaced by a further drop which can then be removed by further lickingor touching by the animals.

In other types of conventional animal cages, the lid is not perforated,but consists of parallel bars and is formed with angular depressions inwhich the bottle is mounted in a downwardly-inclined position. The feedof the bottle content is, however, essentially the same.

Because the tube tip 36 is made of stainless steel, it will withstandany chewing by the laboratory animals without danger of breaking andharming the animals. On the other hand, since the main tube body 34 istransparent, it can be constantly visually monitored for cleanliness.Further, the plastic material from which the tube body is made permitsthe tube to be forcibly inserted through the bore of the rubber stopperwithout danger of shattering and cutting the hands of the user.

Once the tip 36 is inserted within the terminal portion 38 of tube body34, it cannot be removed by the laboratory animals because of the smoothrounded surface of the exposed tip head as well as the frictionalresistance provided by the press fit between these parts. The tip may,however, be forcibly extracted by the laboratory attendant for cleaningand sterilizing, in the manner indicated in FIG. 4.

While the tip 36, as previously described, has been made with a with arear portion 44 of reduced diameter which fits within the end of theplastic tube body 34, it will be appreciated that alternatively the tip36 may be made in such a manner that it telescopes over the end of thetransparent plastic tube body 34 rather than within it. Thus, the rearportion 44 may be made of a diameter slightly larger than the plastictube body 34 so that the end of the latter fits within it with a pressfit, or may be secured by cementing. In this instance, the head portion42 which projects forwardly of the plastic tube body would still be madeof a diameter which is substantially equal to the outer diameter of thetube body 34, and would still preferably be made of semispherical shapeas shown.

While a preferred embodiment of the invention has been shown anddescribed herein, it is obvious that numerous omissions, changes andadditions may be made in such embodiment without departing from thespirit and scope of the invention.

I claim:

1. A watering bottle assembly for animals comprising a bottle, aflexible stopper closing the mouth of said bottle and having a throughbore therein, a sipper tube comprising an elongated completely hollowtubular body of rigid transparent plastic material having an inner endsized to be frictionally retained within the bore of said stopper, andan opposite outer end, and a small, one-piece metal tip member havingone end portion frictionally mounted on the outer end of saidtransparent tubular body and having its other, enlarged end portionprojecting therefrom, the outer diameter of said tubular body beingsubstantially equal to the outer diameter of at least a portion of theenlarged end por- .tion of the tip member, said tip member having asolid metal body formed with a liquid outlet aperture in its enlargedend portion and a through bore communicating with said outlet apertureand with the interior of said tubular body.

2. A watering tube according to claim 1 in which said tubular body ismade of a transparent plastic capable of withstanding autoclavingtemperatures.

3. A watering tube according to claim 1 in which said metal tip memberis made of stainless steel.

4. A watering tube according to claim 1 in which said metal tip memberhas a rear portion of reduced diameter inserted within the outer and ofsaid tubular body, and an enlarged forward end portion which projectsfrom said tubular body.

5. A watering tube according to claim 4 in which the enlarged forwardend portion of said metal tip is semispherical and in which the rear endportion said metal tip is of cylindrical shape.

6. A watering tube according to claim 5 in which said transparenttubular body has an outer end portion of enlarged inner diameter and inwhich the cylindrical end portion of said tip member has an outerdiameter slightly greater than said enlarged inner diameter of said endportion, whereby said tip member is press fitted and frictionallyretained within said tubular body.

7. A watering tube according to claim 6 in which the diameter of saidsemi-spherical end portion of said tip member is substantially equal tothe outer diameter of said tubular body.

1. A watering bottle assembly for animals comprising a bottle, aflexible stopper closing the mouth of said bottle and having a throughbore therein, a sipper tube comprising an elongated completely hollowtubular body of rigid transparent plastic material having an inner endsized to be frictionalLy retained within the bore of said stopper, andan opposite outer end, and a small, one-piece metal tip member havingone end portion frictionally mounted on the outer end of saidtransparent tubular body and having its other, enlarged end portionprojecting therefrom, the outer diameter of said tubular body beingsubstantially equal to the outer diameter of at least a portion of theenlarged end portion of the tip member, said tip member having a solidmetal body formed with a liquid outlet aperture in its enlarged endportion and a through bore communicating with said outlet aperture andwith the interior of said tubular body.
 2. A watering tube according toclaim 1 in which said tubular body is made of a transparent plasticcapable of withstanding autoclaving temperatures.
 3. A watering tubeaccording to claim 1 in which said metal tip member is made of stainlesssteel.
 4. A watering tube according to claim 1 in which said metal tipmember has a rear portion of reduced diameter inserted within the outerand of said tubular body, and an enlarged forward end portion whichprojects from said tubular body.
 5. A watering tube according to claim 4in which the enlarged forward end portion of said metal tip issemi-spherical and in which the rear end portion said metal tip is ofcylindrical shape.
 6. A watering tube according to claim 5 in which saidtransparent tubular body has an outer end portion of enlarged innerdiameter and in which the cylindrical end portion of said tip member hasan outer diameter slightly greater than said enlarged inner diameter ofsaid end portion, whereby said tip member is press fitted andfrictionally retained within said tubular body.
 7. A watering tubeaccording to claim 6 in which the diameter of said semi-spherical endportion of said tip member is substantially equal to the outer diameterof said tubular body.